News

December 2009

Haulage, warehousing and distribution specialists

Beacon Roadways is a West Midlands haulage company specialising in transporting awkwardly shaped and difficult to handle goods as well as palletised items.

Ugly freight specialists

We are a specialist ugly freight haulage company with over 30 years' experience in transporting obscure loads as well as palletised freight.

The flexibility of full and part loads

We understand that sometimes you won’t have a full load to transport, that’s why we’re happy to collect part loads as well as complete consignments.

The reassurance of no hubs or “piggybacking”

All freight, whether ugly freight or not, requires specialist handling. Beacon Roadways guarantees to transport your goods from collection point to delivery point. We don't use hubs and we never “piggyback” loads.

A weekly Scottish delivery service

Experienced, smart and friendly drivers

All our drivers are experts in handling freight, especially ugly freight, with care and are all trained in manual handling. Our drivers are customer service experts equipped with mobile phones to call ahead to confirm progress and advise you of any potential delays. When they are on site you will be able to identify them by their smart Beacon apparel and they will offer as much help unloading freight as they can.

A modern, technologically advanced vehicle fleet

We believe in investing in the latest technology because it reduces our overheads – and your costs.
Our fleet of lorries is made up of 3.5 tonne, 7.5 tonne and 18 tonne curtain-sided vehicles. All are fitted with tail lifts, tracking systems and satellite navigation.

Warehousing facilities

Fully alarmed warehousing with 24 hour security at our West Midlands headquarters in Lye near Stourbridge.

Our warehouse space is available on very flexible and reasonable terms. We do not have a minimum charge or minimum time period.

We are happy to store standard pallets or individual products of any shape or size on a long or short-term basis. Consequently, customers can use it to help them cope with seasonal demand, stock-holding commitments, delayed orders or simply where space has run out.

We offer a product management service if required, delivering your goods from stock.

September 2009

Beacon Roadways – praise for our driver

Beacon Roadways recently received a call out of the blue. A member of the public who is a cyclist in London noticed an encounter between a well driven Beacon Roadways vehicle and a rather badly ridden cycle and he called to compliment our driver, Paul. Go to http://www.londonfgss.com/thread27471.html to read about it and the discussion that followed.

July 2009

From Paté to Packing

When Beacon Roadways' long serving Warehouseman, Arthur Pearson, retired recently, Managing Director, Martin Chiswell set about finding a suitable replacement.

As Martin explained, “Recruiting a person to replace Arthur was not straightforward. We needed someone to manage and organise Beacon’s extensive warehouse facilities, someone who could load and unload lorries efficiently and safely, someone who had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the geography of the United Kingdom and a person capable of keeping the yard and storage areas spotlessly clean.”

After much searching, Martin was introduced to John Cartwright, who started work at Beacon Roadways a few weeks ago. John has fitted in well to his new position, “The lads have been great and make me feel very welcome and part of the Beacon team; we have a laugh and a joke but also take our responsibilities very seriously. You cannot be too careful when dealing with lorries, fork lift trucks and freight, especially ugly freight, you know, those awkwardly shaped, delicate and difficult to handle items that Beacon Roadways has such a fantastic Black Country and West Midlands reputation for storing and transporting.”

John started his working life in catering making his way up to Chef de Partie at the prestigious four star Park Royal Hotel at Warrington in Cheshire. (Check it out at www.qhotels.co.uk.)

For the uninitiated, a Chef de Partie is the Head Chef in one section of a kitchen. “Although it might seem a lot different from being in charge of Beacon Roadways’ warehousing operations at Lye in the West Midlands there are in fact many similarities,” explained John. "I have to be tidy and organised, keep everything in their correct places, always work safely, meet deadlines, cover a wide range of duties and set and achieve priorities. Just like a Chef!”

May 2009

Beacon Roadways' MD elected to the Transport, Warehousing and Distribution Committee

The Annual General Meeting of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) was held at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire in March this year. At the AGM, Martin Chiswell, Managing Director of Beacon Roadways, was elected to the National Committee of the Transport, Warehousing and Distribution Group of the Association.

Martin, who has been a keen supporter of the RHA for many years said, 'This is a great honour and privilege for me, I believe I have a lot to offer the Committee as for over 20 years I have developed and managed the Beacon Roadways business around transport, warehousing and distribution on a national basis.'

March 2009

The Extra Mile

One of Beacon’s regular customers is Eaton Timber Products (ETP) of Worcester. ETP manufactures a whole range of timber products which are used by industry, education, the public sector and, increasingly, householders.

Beacon Roadways has a well deserved reputation for doing a “bit more” to make sure our customers get their goods on time and in the right condition.

Eaton Timber manufactures a solid, traditional style carpenters’ bench. These benches, which have traditionally been sold to schools, colleges and woodworking companies, are now being bought by members of the general public.

On two occasions recently, Beacon Roadways has been asked to deliver Eaton Timber workbenches to private addresses. Driver Paul Williams took the first bench to Croydon, Surrey. On arrival, Paul quickly realised that the bench would not fit through the gap between the house and the garage, the latter building being the intended home of the workbench.

Ever resourceful, Paul took out his tool kit and removed the bench top from the base and carried the units through to the garage where he reassembled it. Excellent service from Beacon Roadways and, as Paul said, “It was all in a day's work.”

A few weeks later a second Paul from Beacon Roadways, Paul Thomas was on his way to Basingstoke, Hampshire with a large workbench for a woodworking enthusiast. The earlier exploits of Paul Williams had become legend amongst the Beacon drivers and Paul Thomas, with the very large workbench was not to be outdone.

Paul encountered the same problems as his namesake, a narrow gap and no room to manoeuvre; time for the tool kit! Off came the bench top which Paul took round to the back of the house. Next came the base unit but Paul had not allowed for the metal vice which jutted out from the side of the bench. No matter how he tried the bench frame and vice would not fit through the gap.

Defeated but not downhearted, Paul reassembled and reloaded the bench and returned it to Eaton Timber Products in Worcester where it was immediately dismantled and made available to the customer as a flat pack product.

After his exploits Paul commented, “I shall always carry a tape measure in my cab in future!”

December 2008

Investing for the Future

To celebrate Beacon Roadways recent success at negotiating a new long term lease on its property at Timmis Road Industrial Estate, Lye, Stourbridge, Managing Director Martin Chiswell decided on a programme of refurbishment and decoration.

New, double glazed windows have been fitted and roof insulation has been increased. As a result, the premises are more energy efficient, which will allow the company to cut its overheads in the long term.

Commenting, Martin said, “Beacon has been at the Lye site for 20 years and the new 10 year lease secures our position as the Black Country’s leading provider of road haulage specialising in awkwardly shaped and difficult to handle goods, known as ‘Ugly Freight’. At Lye we not only have room to accommodate all our lorries but also secure warehousing space which is available for customers’ products at very competitive rates.”

Top of the Class

All Beacon’s drivers are now trained to National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level Two in Driving Goods Vehicles.

To achieve this qualification, Beacon Roadways' drivers had to demonstrate competence in pre-driving checks and monitoring the loading of goods. The pre-driving checks included the correct use of tachographs and the condition of the vehicles.

During the training an independent assessor travelled with the drivers to monitor their skills and obviously, safe and economical driving was under scrutiny as was careful and efficient unloading of goods.

Martin Chiswell, Managing Director of Beacon Roadways was delighted with the results of the training and said, “It is a great achievement to have every one of our drivers trained to NVQ Level 2 and this will bring benefits both to our business and customers in terms of service, safety and satisfaction.”

Still Going Strong

During 2008 Trevor Pardoe, our Transport Scheduling Manager, completed 23 years’ continuous service with Beacon Roadways. Trevor is now the longest serving employee in Beacon’s history.

Starting as a driver in 1985, Trevor has a comprehensive knowledge of Beacon’s business which he makes use of in organising where and when the fleet is going to travel.

“There have been a lot of changes since I first started at Beacon”, says Trevor.  “The trucks today are more comfortable, more luxurious and less tiring to drive than they were when I first started. Tail lifts have helped with loading and unloading and from a scheduling point of view, the mobile phones, satellite navigation and tracking systems fitted to all Beacon’s vehicles have allowed us to further improve our customer service and speed of response”.